Raceland coilvers review (NA)

[BlueMiata]

So here we go with the Raceland Coilover review!
This first section, i take a bunch of pictures of the actual box/coils
so u can see the craftsmanship. I also compared their spanner wrench keys
with some from my other coilovers..(jic and tein).
Now i do agree, the box looks like it could be rockets or a big box of fireworks..
thats partially why i wanted to see how good they could be..

[BlueMiata]

here are most pictures of them compared to the stocks and closeup pictures tooo

[BlueMiata]

this is like a step-by-step guide of what i did to install them.. hopefully it will help some people out..

FRONTS: (pretty much just mirror it for the other side)

[BlueMiata]

that concludes the fronts...

__________________________________________________ _______________________________

[BlueMiata]

here is the rear install...



and that concludes the rear...

__________________________________________________ ____________________________

[BlueMiata]

Here is my review:

The coilovers do not include tophats so u will need your stock ones... i am running stock NA ones in front and some ICS racing ones in the rear( i had these from my previous setup)..

the coilovers had one snag.. the bottom bushing sleeve is a little too wide(length wise)
so its kinda hard to fit into the factory arms.. i dremel'd/filed it down about a MM
on both sides and it went in MUCH MUCH easier.. im not sure if this will be something
that others have to do or not... i informed raceland of my findings..



the rest wasn't bad... the shock strut itself has that notch so that the top hat can "lock"
the strut when u tighten the top bolt.. and they feel pretty decent in quality..

i tested the car out and drove all over the areas i thought my car rode the worse in.. and i
repeated the same speed as i usually do and these coils defiantly are stiffer than tokico blues..
ive always thought tokico blues, kyb gr2 are OEM spec or like as soft as stock i guess..
these do NOT ride like that.. they ride a little stiffer and my car feels more planted than before..
even though its higher than my original height.. i left it at this height because im expecting the
springs to settle a little...

this is the height situation:
my rear has this much threads left:

----------------------------
Here are the fronts(BELOW)

and with that in mind, i DO have ICS tophats in the rear which give u almost a .5" drop...

this is the height of my car RIGHT after i installed them.. no spring settle yet..




UPDATE: heres morning pictures...




so u should know how much lower u can go looking at the threads left and the height of my car..
im not even close to being on the bumpstops.. it takes dips and stuff pretty well

[BlueMiata]

i will post more pictures after they settle..
but they sure ride good! ive riden in my friends megans which i thought
rode really well, these aren't adjustable so u can't stiffen them for a track
day or something, but they surely aren't bad if they hold up..
they ride 10x better than shocks and cut springs thats for sure.. the problem i
had was that my original shcoks couldn't keep up the weight of the car when
it was slammed.. so it would get bouncy and stuff.. that is no longer the issue..

and yet these coilovers aren't too stiff where your mom would complain.. its a
nice ride.. ill keep u all posted...

i got my coilovers from
wwww.racelandus.com
direct! and it was 258 shipped! they sent it fedex.. they are located in
RENO, NV.. they came to my doorstep in 2 days.. i think thats pretty quick!

I DO NOT WORK FOR THEM. i just wanted the truth! i didn't want a bunch of people saying
how for sure they don't perform cuz of the price. So if they were priced 1000 bucks a set it
would perform based on price speculation? that doesn't even make sense.. Im not saying
these will be the best, but I didn't know, and neither does a lot of people, so im gambling and
hoping these will be ok.. and if they are, they are awesome bang for the buck

[BlueMiata]

this is the height of my car b4 i started..


and i pretty much want to be slightly higher all around.. especially in the back.. maybe just 1/8 or 1/4"... but we'll see what happens after it settles...

[808roadster]

Awesome writeup. I'm interested in how they hold up.

[JerseyKid]

Me too, awesome write up. And the ISC hats definitely give you a lower height? I thought they just freed up shock travel. If thats the case i might have to get them all the way around.

[Diamond Dave]

Originally Posted by JerseyKid

Me too, awesome write up. And the ISC hats definitely give you a lower height? I thought they just freed up shock travel. If thats the case i might have to get them all the way around.

It's the same thing. By raising the top mounting point, the car is lower, while retaining the same travel.

[BlueMiata]

im pretty happy with the ride quality.. i was scared it would be too stiff or too soft...
it seems to be at a nice medium.. i REALLY hope it holds up and the springs dont
sag too much... i will keep updates on anything i find... i pretty much threw them in
at: 121,500 miles.. so we'll see how many miles and what it turns out to be...

[bluemilew]

any clearance issues on 1.8 axles??

[hooked_on4]

very interesting....

Thanks for the write up and keep us updated

[BlueMiata]

A couple of new notes..
I have a 1.6 so i cannot answer the axle question..
BUT if u were to completely lower the rear coilover, the collars
WILL touch the axle, so u must be careful..
heres a picture:

****they do say that their coilovers lower the car 1.5~2.5" perhaps if you
PASS what the recommend, you aren't using them the way they are designed..



now moving on, i realized that I DO have ICS hats, BUT the bump stops they
give u DO NOT slide all the way into the recessed cup of the hat, so it
may just give u a little more. but probably not the entire 1.5" travel
promised by ics, i plan to maybe get new bump stops so that it will fit inside
the cup..

u can see the comparison... the ics has 1/2" almost less stuff going on because its missing the spring perch on top.. AND it recesses the shock to 1.5" more so the bump stop can go in.. with the raceland ones, it didn't seem like it was going to slide right in easy, but i have yet to hit the bump stops...

[SUNGZiLLA]

Originally Posted by bluemilew

any clearance issues on 1.8 axles??

wow great write up... i should've took some pictures too

anyways.... i have it on my 1.8 no chearance issues... but u can't lowerer it all the way on the rear...

since bottom collar is going to touch the axle

[BlueMiata]

i already took pictures of the collar and axle..
as well as the bottom sleeve being too beefy..
and sent them the pictures and information
asking them for maybe a revision? or explanation..

did u run across that problem or was it only me?
i used a caliper and measured it.. it was indeed thicker
than my tokico blues

[SUNGZiLLA]

collar and axle was the only issue...

[diLLy]

Nice review, mang.

[MrSmith]

Originally Posted by BlueMiata

the coilovers had one snag.. the bottom bushing sleeve is a little too wide(length wise)
so its kinda hard to fit into the factory arms.. i dremel'd/filed it down about a MM
on both sides and it went in MUCH MUCH easier.. im not sure if this will be something
that others have to do or not... i informed raceland of my findings..

Had the same issue, 2sec on my bench grinder solved it.

As for 1.8 Axle clearance, If you go too low in the rear it WILL grind the collar. Makes a nice squeaking sound as it wears through.

[CRXican]

looks like some cheap shit, but I'm sure you expected that

[Haigog]

why are the helper springs still on there!?!

get those off for some more gangster slamajamma.

[hooked_on4]

^^ this guy lol

Sarcastic much?

[Haigog]

no...dead serious...

[RacingBeatMx-5]

ordered mine a min ago. Hopefully I get them by monday =]

[BlueMiata]

imma leave the helper spring on there and see how they ride the way they were designed.. i dont wanna start taking stuff out before the springs even settled.. but it sure seems like i can get a decent ride out of them..

[whizbang18t]

fyi you can use bing cashback to save an additional 8% if purchased via ebay
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Raceland...__W0QQ_armrsZ1

[Senna Vs. Prost]

Originally Posted by BlueMiata

they ride 10x better than shocks and cut springs thats for sure.. the problem i
had was that my original shcoks couldn't keep up the weight of the car when
it was slammed.. so it would get bouncy and stuff.. that is no longer the issue..

Not hard to improve on absolute rock bottom

Originally Posted by CRXican

looks like some cheap shit, but I'm sure you expected that

The welds at the bottom look like one of those Razor scooters that were cool in 6th grade. Respect to you for taking the plunge, but these look like hot garbage. Whatever, if all you're doing is slamming your car, these should be fine.

[Haigog]

I'm so hurt...they'll be replaced soon enough, don't you worry my dear.

[1.8-m]

damn bought time someone did a review on these coilovers..
well looks like ill be saving up cash to buy these next..gota take a lil out the pay check every 2 weeks so by nex yr ill be able to buy me a christmas present from santa hehehe woohoooooo